Transatlantic Slaves Trade

• American South


  The confederacy states in the southeastern part of North America that had slave holding interests
• Cultural identity


  The particular way of life that defines a community and makes it what it is
• Cultural heritage


  The way of life of a people that is passed on from one generation to the next
• Oral tradition


  When a community's culture is passed down by word of mouth
• Slaves worked very hard – sometimes up to 18 hours a day
• Slaves were not allowed time off. Some owners allowed slaves to rest on a Sunday
• Men mostly worked on the fields while women worked as servants in the slave owners' houses. Children were forced to work from as young as six or seven years old, doing jobs like cleaning, water carrying, stone picking and collecting livestock feed
• Slaves were treated very badly – being punished for even the slightest disobedience. They were badly whipped
• Slaves were given only a minimum of clothing – 1 pair of shoes, two undergarments and a dress or a pair of trousers and two shirts
• Slaves had their own living quarters on the plantations. Some owners provided housing, while other slaves had to build their own homes. They had very little furniture
• Their diets consisted of weekly rations of corn and fatty meat. Slaves would often grow their own vegetables and were sometimes allowed to raise chickens and other livestock
• Laws were made to keep slaves under control. For example, slaves were not allowed to go outside after dark, gather in groups of three or more, leave their owner's property without a written pass, own weapons, or learn to read or write
• Because of all this, the life expectancy of slaves on plantations was only between 7 to 9 years
• Slave traders tried to destroy the slaves' cultural identity. They were often had to go on board the slave ship naked, with no belongings from their previous life
• Slaves drew on their African cultural heritage and used it in music, songs, and stories, to survive spiritually and emotionally, and to develop a new culture
• In America the slaves adapted the music and songs from their past. This played an important part in their religious and working lives and helped them to form a new cultural identity
• Slaves used the music and songs to survive their harsh conditions and to send secret messages
• When working in the fields, slaves sang to keep time with one another
• Their religious songs (spirituals) gave them inner strength to endure their terrible conditions
• Some of the spirituals were used as communication to send messages to slaves on other plantations about when, how, and where to escape
• Slaves were not allowed to learn to read and write. They thus drew on their rich oral tradition from West and Central Africa
• They retold stories from one generation to the next to keep their tradition and culture alive
• Harriet Tubman


  Born into slavery, escaped to freedom, and then helped over 300 other slaves escape through the Underground Railroad
• Harriet's parents were enslaved, and they had 11 children
• Harriet started working when she was 5 years old
• When she was 13 years old, a supervisor hit her on the head when she tried to defend another slave. This head injury gave her problems for the rest of her life
• Harriet married John Tubman, a free man. He said that if she tried running away, he would report her
• When Harriet's master died, she heard that she and two of her brothers would be sold to another slave owner. She decided to run away
• Her two brothers ran away with her but became scared and returned to the slave owner. Harriet kept going. She travelled on foot, at night only, following the Northern Star to get to the American North where she would be free
• Harriet found work in Philadelphia and got involved in the abolitionist organization. She also got involved with the organizers of the Underground Railroad
• Underground Railroad


  A network of secret routes and safe houses that slaves used in the USA, to escape to freedom
• Safe houses


  Called "stations" or "depots"
• Owners of safe houses

  Called "stationmasters"
• People who travelled with the slaves to help them escape

  Called "conductors"
• For 12 years Harriet returned to the South 18 or 19 times, rescuing more than 300 slaves
• She saved her sister, 4 of her brothers, as well as her mother and father
• She was very successful in her missions because she was organized and fearless
• She carried a rifle with her on her missions to stop pro-slavery people she might meet, as well as stopping the rescued slaves from backing out of the rescue operation
• If a slave backed out of the rescue mission, he/she could betray too many secrets of the Underground Railroad
• Harriet never lost a single slave on her rescue missions. She was very successful in setting slaves free